Breaking news in the UK Eclipse on the way to Spain

[james_19742000]

Great news that Eclipse is going to Bibao to collect and repatriate our fellow Brits! Great news all round really, like Twinkle I am booked on Eclipse on Monday for the 3 night LeHavre trip, will be gutted if its cancelled, but not much can be done if it is, but hey ho!

 

However, I have to take issue with a few comments made on here by some of our American cousins, as a very proud Brit, I can assure you, I have manners, I have standards, I dont drink to anything liek excess, just the occasional glass of wine or a beer (and even then only when on holiday), I dont eat myself silly just because I am on a cruise, I dont act in a silly way, I dont stagger around a ship drunk looking for my kids at 2 in the morning, I dont drop my crumpets on the floor, I dont generally behave like a lout!

 

I am a proud Brit, 35 years old and a true family man at heart, have a wife and three kids, yes we go on cruises, but your stereotypical view of someone from England is probably about as far from the truth as you can imagine, our stereotypical view of someone from America is someone who just eats fast food all the time, drink gallons of Coke, wonders around with a gun in there pocket ready to shoot it, driving some sort of 8 litre gasoline car, wearing a huge great big american football shirt with huge amounts of gold around there neck!!!??? If thats correct about an American then I must be all what people say us Brits are!!!

 

Lets not get into the good and bad of both nations, lets just say that the people currently stuck in all these places in teh world unable tp get home must be really difficult, OK for a couple of days it is manageable but I am sure that tempers are being fraid, credit cards are bent to within an inch of its life, these people are quickly becoming destitute in a foreign country with no food, no drink, nowhere to sleep, clothes getting dirtier by the day and in many cases money running out fast!!!! Anything that can be done should be done to get as many home as possible, judging by the various news streams and peoples own stories on this and other forums even if the air was to return to normal tomorrow, the earliest some airlines have places on planes are now starting to get into early May!!! Thats a long time, so yes its great to see a bit of 'Dunkirk' spirit come out and kudos for all involved in getting people home ASAP and even more respect to the people in these terrible conditions spread across the globe!!!

 

Lets hope this situation is resolved as soon as possible :D:D

 

In the meantime happy cruising!

 

By the way I have seen today mentioned in various places that in Florida many of the theme parks, entertainment parks etc are offering stranded Brits free entrance etc in these places, well done!!! :D:D

 

Regards James

[james_19742000]

I personally am not certain the the sort of person who books their two weeks in Benidorm with these TAs are the sort of person who would want to book a X cruise!

But as you say, those TAs will owe X - big time!

 

So what about the people on the news this morning boarding HMS Albion, they were from the UK, and had been on a cruise which had returned to Barcelona, presume they are ideal people to come back on Celebrity, maybe they should of waited until Eclipse turned up and some 'Benidorm rif-raf' could of gone Albion!

 

Sorry but in times like this, it doesnt matter, age, race, religion, social background, job etc etc, the majority of people are in the situation, saved a lot of money, worked hard for the money, taken a holiday (regardless of it being a cruise, package holiday, own arrangements holiday, back packing etc etc) they all have a right to get home, these people in some cases have been hanging around for nearly a week now, not slept, not eaten etc etc they just want to get on some form of transport, be it cruise ship, troop ship, minbus, coach, ferry, car etc etc etc get a shower, some clean clothes, something to eat and some proper sleep!!!!

 

I am booked on Eclipse next week, and providing that goes ahead I will take pleasure knowing that I will be in a room that in all likelyhood would of been used to get some of our fellow Brits back home under extreme circumstances!!!

 

:D:D:D

[sandancer]

Well said James and by the way philsuarez, the first revenue cruise is this coming Monday and like James and Twinkle we are due to take this cruise. What happens now is anyone's guess, I really hope it will go ahead and I expect it will but if not then we will just "suck it up".

[Starry Nights]

Great news that Eclipse is going to Bibao to collect and repatriate our fellow Brits! Great news all round really, like Twinkle I am booked on Eclipse on Monday for the 3 night LeHavre trip, will be gutted if its cancelled, but not much can be done if it is, but hey ho!

 

However, I have to take issue with a few comments made on here by some of our American cousins, as a very proud Brit, I can assure you, I have manners, I have standards, I dont drink to anything liek excess, just the occasional glass of wine or a beer (and even then only when on holiday), I dont eat myself silly just because I am on a cruise, I dont act in a silly way, I dont stagger around a ship drunk looking for my kids at 2 in the morning, I dont drop my crumpets on the floor, I dont generally behave like a lout!

 

I am a proud Brit, 35 years old and a true family man at heart, have a wife and three kids, yes we go on cruises, but your stereotypical view of someone from England is probably about as far from the truth as you can imagine, our stereotypical view of someone from America is someone who just eats fast food all the time, drink gallons of Coke, wonders around with a gun in there pocket ready to shoot it, driving some sort of 8 litre gasoline car, wearing a huge great big american football shirt with huge amounts of gold around there neck!!!??? If thats correct about an American then I must be all what people say us Brits are!!!

 

Lets not get into the good and bad of both nations, lets just say that the people currently stuck in all these places in teh world unable tp get home must be really difficult, OK for a couple of days it is manageable but I am sure that tempers are being fraid, credit cards are bent to within an inch of its life, these people are quickly becoming destitute in a foreign country with no food, no drink, nowhere to sleep, clothes getting dirtier by the day and in many cases money running out fast!!!! Anything that can be done should be done to get as many home as possible, judging by the various news streams and peoples own stories on this and other forums even if the air was to return to normal tomorrow, the earliest some airlines have places on planes are now starting to get into early May!!! Thats a long time, so yes its great to see a bit of 'Dunkirk' spirit come out and kudos for all involved in getting people home ASAP and even more respect to the people in these terrible conditions spread across the globe!!!

 

Lets hope this situation is resolved as soon as possible :D:D

 

In the meantime happy cruising!

 

By the way I have seen today mentioned in various places that in Florida many of the theme parks, entertainment parks etc are offering stranded Brits free entrance etc in these places, well done!!! :D:D

 

Regards James

 

I just did a quick review of this thread, and I think most of the posts about the quality of the stranded Brit passengers were made by Brits, with the exception of one sad individual, whose country of origin we can't be sure of.

[80sramfan]

Not convinced - the company is doing great work in Haiti through their 'island'!! No TAs involved there.

 

However, we were all wondering here, how evacuation such as this could be organised. Helping passengers already with agents who have the reps to organise this end, (we are in Spain) does make sense. You couldn't have thousands of unknown people making a rush to get on a ship!! Beginning to make sense.

 

BUT, whatever their motivation, they are doing something to get people home - we can only appreciate that.

 

 

You do realize this little rescue mission is actually a paid charter right?

[80sramfan]

Well said James and by the way philsuarez, the first revenue cruise is this coming Monday and like James and Twinkle we are due to take this cruise. What happens now is anyone's guess, I really hope it will go ahead and I expect it will but if not then we will just "suck it up".

 

Huh? So this Charter by the travel companies to "rescue" people isn't a revenue cruise? Celebrity is getting paid so to me it's a revenue cruise

[james_19742000]

I just did a quick review of this thread, and I think most of the posts about the quality of the stranded Brit passengers were made by Brits, with the exception of one sad individual, whose country of origin we can't be sure of.

 

Hangs head in shame! :eek::eek:

 

My apologoies, it just knarked me that all of a sudden something good was being down iwth this ship and a couple of posters on here decided to use to have a dig at us Brits, and you are quite right, now that I have re-read the posts on this thread you are completely right, please accept my apologies, remind me to not jump in with both feet next time!! :o:o

 

Regards James

[BMT]

Truthfully, to me and to all those poor families and elderly people stranded abroad, it doesn't really matter who gets what!!

 

What matters is that someone is doing something to help those stranded. Better than sitting back doing nothing except criticise!!

 

We are here in Spain experiencing this awful situation - there is real hardship. We are all grateful to any Company offering assistance in repatriating British citizens.

[james_19742000]

Truthfully, to me and to all those poor families and elderly people stranded abroad, it doesn't really matter who gets what!!

 

What matters is that someone is doing something to help those stranded. Better than sitting back doing nothing except criticise!!

 

We are here in Spain experiencing this awful situation - there is real hardship. We are all grateful to any Company offering assistance in repatriating British citizens.

 

Well said, seeing the news channels here in the UK there appears to be some real hardship and desperation setting in now, I hope your journey is sorted soon and you get home, all of us here the UK are thinking about you all now, and full marks to Celebrity for allowing the ship to be used for this purpose.

 

I cant believe that the two Naval vessels that were heading for the English Channel are still on stand-by and they arent sure if they are going to be used or not, they should be sent to Bilbao/Santander immediately to get people home!

[philsuarez]

Hi

The 26th April 2010 is Monday

 

Phil

[Starry Nights]

Hangs head in shame! :eek::eek:

 

My apologoies, it just knarked me that all of a sudden something good was being down iwth this ship and a couple of posters on here decided to use to have a dig at us Brits, and you are quite right, now that I have re-read the posts on this thread you are completely right, please accept my apologies, remind me to not jump in with both feet next time!! :o:o

 

Regards James

 

Oh, no problem :p. I just wanted you to know that almost all North Americans posting here support the use of the Eclipse to get these poor folks home.

 

One thing I have noticed is, on most of the news coverage here in the US and Canada, there is hardly any mention of the hardships being faced by the people in Iceland. The one news article I did see regarding the situation in Iceland reported that, with the new cloud of ash this morning, some farms are being permanently closed down.

 

My heart goes out to the people of Iceland as well.

[RJL58]

Eclipse is scheduled to pick up 2000+ pax at Santander, some are package hols pax others are to be bused from Madrid to clear the backlog from the airport. Flights from N/S America are landing there and people are then going no where:eek:.

 

RICH........................:)

[Denny01]

Oh, no problem :p. I just wanted you to know that almost all North Americans posting here support the use of the Eclipse to get these poor folks home.

 

One thing I have noticed is, on most of the news coverage here in the US and Canada, there is hardly any mention of the hardships being faced by the people in Iceland. The one news article I did see regarding the situation in Iceland reported that, with the new cloud of ash this morning, some farms are being permanently closed down.

 

My heart goes out to the people of Iceland as well.

 

Take a look at ABC. They've had a lot of coverage at the volcano, and we've seen photos of at a farm starting early on and now: the udder destruction - I used 'udder' because it was a dairy farm I think!.

 

Probably bad timing for a 'joke' but, you know me!

 

 

Denny

[sandancer]

Yes I know Phil, I'm on it - this from your post

the first revenue cruise on 26/05/10

Not trying to be smart, just in case someone had a slight turn and started frantically checking cruise docs!!!

Elaine

[BMT]

Oh, no problem :p. I just wanted you to know that almost all North Americans posting here support the use of the Eclipse to get these poor folks home.

 

One thing I have noticed is, on most of the news coverage here in the US and Canada, there is hardly any mention of the hardships being faced by the people in Iceland. The one news article I did see regarding the situation in Iceland reported that, with the new cloud of ash this morning, some farms are being permanently closed down.

 

My heart goes out to the people of Iceland as well.

 

Absolutely - a total disaster for the people of Iceland. But nothing can be done at the moment to help them.

 

This thread was just about the eclipse being used to help out. Some of the opinions seem a little strange to me - but we are likely to possibly be stranded here in Spain and so our opinion doesn't count I suppose.:D

 

However, just seen the news - the wind has turned and new ash is not likely to reach the UK. Fingers well-crossed!! Rain in Scotland forecast - and flights are likely to commence from the UK very soon.

 

We will be glad to get back to the UK I can tell you - so hoping we can use our flight from Malaga next Thursday

 

I think I am the only one on this site actually in Europe and affected by this and posting, and I am really saddened by some of the attitudes shown.

[james_19742000]

Oh, no problem :p. I just wanted you to know that almost all North Americans posting here support the use of the Eclipse to get these poor folks home.

 

One thing I have noticed is, on most of the news coverage here in the US and Canada, there is hardly any mention of the hardships being faced by the people in Iceland. The one news article I did see regarding the situation in Iceland reported that, with the new cloud of ash this morning, some farms are being permanently closed down.

 

My heart goes out to the people of Iceland as well.

 

I think in the main Iceland in itself and its air space are not having the severe problems like we are here in the UK, whilst obviously locally to the Volcano there are a lot of issues, land problems, ash, smoke, the freak weather with it etc etc, because the wind is blowing south the majority of Iceland is clear, ironically when Glasgow Airport in Scotland had a few hours of clear airspace this morning some of the flights eithe originated or were going to Iceland!

 

The reality is that the problems associated with this will go on for weeks, and nothing will settle down until the eruption is over, with the wind being as it is and blowing it wherever it does we will continue to have these problems.

 

Whats gets me (going off in a different direction here) is that we are getting various people coming on the TV over not understanding why its still closed etc etc, cant they open them etc etc, that whilst this is now a global headache and causing major problems in my view it is better to be safe than sorry, it only takes one plane to go up after being given an 'all clear' to have a problem and a possible human life tragedy happen and then it will all be questions like 'they shouldnt of allowed it etc etc etc' it really is in my eyes a case of sit it out, no life is worth risking when there is a risk, no matter how small it is, I have seen the documenteries of the BA Jumbo in 1982 that encountered volcanic ash and that looked scarey and they were lucky that they got through it with no accident!

 

One question though, if this was to continue and now that Celebrity has set a president, when and can the UK government call upon british flagged ships to help out and cancel there current commitments???

[james_19742000]

Absolutely - a total disaster for the people of Iceland. But nothing can be done at the moment to help them.

 

This thread was just about the eclipse being used to help out. Some of the opinions seem a little strange to me - but we are likely to possibly be stranded here in Spain and so our opinion doesn't count I suppose.:D

 

However, just seen the news - the wind has turned and new ash is not likely to reach the UK. Fingers well-crossed!! Rain in Scotland forecast - and flights are likely to commence from the UK very soon.

 

We will be glad to get back to the UK I can tell you - so hoping we can use our flight from Malaga next Thursday

 

I think I am the only one on this site actually in Europe and affected by this and posting, and I am really saddened by some of the attitudes shown.

 

I am here in Europe, UK, and am seeing the coverage daily, noticed the kids school this morning was very quiet, pupils missing, staff missing etc etc so am seeing the knock on effects here, I just hope that some of my comments havent offended or upset you, if they have then please accept my apologies.

[SantaFeFan]

Whats gets me (going off in a different direction here) is that we are getting various people coming on the TV over not understanding why its still closed etc etc, cant they open them etc etc, that whilst this is now a global headache and causing major problems in my view it is better to be safe than sorry, it only takes one plane to go up after being given an 'all clear' to have a problem and a possible human life tragedy happen and then it will all be questions like 'they shouldnt of allowed it etc etc etc' it really is in my eyes a case of sit it out, no life is worth risking when there is a risk, no matter how small it is, I have seen the documenteries of the BA Jumbo in 1982 that encountered volcanic ash and that looked scarey and they were lucky that they got through it with no accident!

 

It seems that the airlines are complaining the loudest to let them fly again. They've been loosing money, yes, but I think they are more concerned about their financial situation than safety. When a certain point is reached, any corporation will start taking risks to get revenue coming in again. The question I have, is the risk reasonable?

[BMT]

One question though, if this was to continue and now that Celebrity has set a president, when and can the UK government call upon british flagged ships to help out and cancel there current commitments???

 

Now there's a question!! I suppose they could - they can pass laws for anything:D - but would they in this case? Doubtful I would have thought.

 

Anyone know the answer.

 

Things are looking better now - UK flights are recommencing at 10.00pm - keeping my fingers crossed for next Thursday and saying hello to Blighty.

[james_19742000]

Now there's a question!! I suppose they could - they can pass laws for anything:D - but would they in this case? Doubtful I would have thought.

 

Anyone know the answer.

 

Things are looking better now - UK flights are recommencing at 10.00pm - keeping my fingers crossed for next Thursday and saying hello to Blighty.

 

I know in times like war etc British flagged ships can be called upon a'la QE2, Canberra for the Falklands, just interested to know when the government can say enoughs enough, all hands on deck lets get as many ships aspossible to get people home!

[BMT]

I am here in Europe, UK, and am seeing the coverage daily, noticed the kids school this morning was very quiet, pupils missing, staff missing etc etc so am seeing the knock on effects here, I just hope that some of my comments havent offended or upset you, if they have then please accept my apologies.

 

I, for one, am not offended or upset by anyone's opinions - that's what forums are for - if we all agreed, they wouldn't be necessary!!

 

But I do think that some posters on this site are so blinded by loyalty to various cruise lines, that they become very rude to those with differing opinions.

 

That's just my take of course.

[sandancer]

All UK airports re-opened tonight and although it will take days or perhaps longer for everyone to get home, there is now more hope and Eclipse would not be doing the rescue run again, I would think. So good luck BMT, hope you get back soon.

[fleckle]

According to news reports, they are using British ships. For example,

 

U.K. Sending Warships to Rescue Stranded Airline Passengers

[pspercy]

Good for =X= but pitiful for the gov't to waste taxpayers' money getting stranded tourists home (sent Navy ships, a good election gimmick I suppose), have they never heard of using their own initiative or taking any of the multitude of ferries ?

 

Comments on one British newspaper even had people saying tourists should take priority over returning military from Afghanistan etc.

[sasset]

"Comments on one British newspaper even had people saying tourists should take priority over returning military from Afghanistan etc."

 

Can you post the link for this story?

 

Thanks